Sun to Acquire MySQL

Sun Microsystems is to acquire database manufacturer MySQL at a purchasing price of around US$ 1 billion according to Sun.

Sun will be paying US$ 800 m in cash for MySQL shares and another US$ 200 m in share options. The transaction is scheduled for completion late in the third or early in the fourth quarter of Sun’s fiscal year 2008.

Marten Mickos, MySQL’s CEO, will be joining Sun’s management team. During the transition period a team of representatives from both companies will be handling the integration of the two companies with respect to technology, products and corporate culture.

Talking on Sun’s motivation for the acquisition, Sun’s CEO Jonathan Schwartz said: "Today’s acquisition reaffirms Sun’s position at the center of the global Web economy. Supporting our overall growth plan, acquiring MySQL amplifies our investments in the technologies demanded by those driving extreme growth and efficiency, from Internet media titans to the world’s largest traditional enterprises." A forecast by TechIQ late last year indicated excellent growth prospects for MySQL in 2008.

MySQL founder Michael "Monty" Widenius warns in his blog against putting the current version 5.1 of the popular database package into production. He's critical of the release policy and fears that the product's quality may suffer.

Market researcher Forrester Research investigated the suitability of database systems for enterprise deployment and found that the Ingres and MySQl alternatives take the lead positions after IBM, Oracle and Microsoft.